Both projects aimed to fulfill Prisms' broader mission to empower individuals by providing holistic support tailored to their needs. For youth workers, the goal was to enhance their self-awareness, professional skills, and capacity to mentor effectively, ensuring they can create positive, impactful relationships with the young people they work with. By focusing on these objectives, Prisms sought to create an environment where youth workers, educators and other professionals working with young people can thrive, learn, and grow, reinforcing the organization's commitment to inclusion, mental well-being, and empowerment through innovative, non-formal educational approaches. Project 1: "Return to the Self" The "Return to the Self" training course focused on the personal and professional development of youth workers, helping them deepen their self-awareness and reflect on their roles. The objectives were: i. Learn more about the self through introspection: To encourage youth workers to engage in self-reflection and gain a deeper understanding of their personal identities, values, and motivations. This is crucial for their development as effective mentors who can connect with young people on a more authentic level. ii. Connect more to the inner world using different methodologies: To provide youth workers with a range of methodologies, including mindfulness, journaling, and reflective exercises, that enable them to explore their inner worlds. This helps them build emotional resilience and empathy, which are essential for their roles as role models and mentors. iii. Reflect on their personal and professional journey: To create a space for youth workers to reflect on their personal and professional journeys, examining their growth, challenges, and aspirations. This reflection helps them identify areas for further development and align their personal growth with their professional responsibilities. Project 2: "Hero's Journey" The "Hero's Journey" training course was designed to help youth workers explore their own personal journeys and understand their role in supporting the growth of young people. The objectives were: i. Familiarize with the Hero's Journey and all its stages: To introduce youth workers to the concept of the Hero's Journey, a narrative framework that can be used to understand personal development and transformation. Understanding this framework helps youth workers guide young people through their own challenges and growth experiences. ii. Reflect on the participants' own journey in life: To encourage youth workers to reflect on their own life experiences and recognize the challenges they have overcome. This reflection is vital for fostering empathy and understanding when working with young people facing similar challenges. iii. Equip participants with skills to use the principles of the Hero's Journey: To provide youth workers with practical skills and strategies for applying the Hero's Journey principles in both their personal and professional lives. This includes understanding how to support young people as they navigate their own developmental journeys. This includes answering the call, meeting the mentor, crossing the threshold, have tests, the ordeal, the road back and the 'resurrection'. iv. Understand in depth the role of the youth worker as a mentor in the Hero's Journey: To help youth workers recognize their role as mentors who guide and support young people through their transformative processes, much like the mentors in the Hero's Journey. v. Gain knowledge on various non-formal methods of education: To introduce youth workers to innovative, non-formal educational methods that they can use to engage young people effectively. This includes experiential learning, storytelling, role-playing, and other interactive techniques that make learning dynamic and meaningful.